Grain-door for cars.



No. 685,506. Paten ted Oct. 29, I901. W. R. BROWNING GRAIN DOOR FORCARS.

(Application filed Apr. 11, 1901.)

111/2. Brownut UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER ROLLIN BROWNING, OF PADONIA, KANSAS.

GRAIN-DOOR FOR CARS.

SPECIFIGATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 685,506, dated October29, 1901. Application filed April 11, 1901. Serial No. 55,413. (NomodeLl To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that LWALTERROLLIN BROWN- ING, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Padonia, in the county of Brown and State of Kansas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Doors forCars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to -make and use the same.

This invention has relation to swinging closures, such as doors, forconfining goods stored or shipped in bulk, and is most especiallyadapted for freight-cars used in the transportation of grain, coal,coke, and commodities usually shipped in a loose state.

The object of the invention is the provision of a durable, tight, andlasting door ca pable of easy management and self-opening under thepressure of the load when released.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and alsoto acquire a knowledge of the details of construction of the means foreffecting the result reference is to be had to the following descriptionand the drawings hereto attached.

While the essential and characteristic features of the invention arenecessarily susceptible of modification, still the preferred in theaccompanying drawings,

embodiment of the invention is illustrated in which- V Figure 1 is aperspective view showing the application of the invention, the doorsbeing closed and secured. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, the dottedlines indicating the extreme positions of the doors. Fig. 3 is a detailperspective View of the inner or meeting ends of the doors. Fig. lis ahorizontal section showing more clearly the operation of the guards toprevent the catching of the doors when swinging outward. detail sectionof the lower portion of a door and the sill, showing the hinged stripoverlapping the joint between the lower edge of the door and the stripapplied to the sill. Fig. 6 is a detail view, on a larger scale, show:ing more clearly the means for bracing and fixing the joint formedbetween the interlocking ends of the doors.

Corresponding and like parts are referred Fig. 5 is a the preferableconstruction,

to in the following description and indicated in all the views of thedrawings by the same reference characters.

The opening in the side of the car or other structure to be closed inaccordance with the principles of this invention has its sill providedon its top side with oppositely-inclined strips 1, conforming to theangle between the doors 2 when closed, so as to aline verticallytherewith. Strips .3 are hinged in front of the strips 1, so as to foldclose upon the sill l or against the outer edges of the strips 1. Thesehinged strips 3 extend in front of the lower portion of the doors 2 whenthe latter are closed and overlap the joint formed between the strips 1and the lower edges of the doors 2, so as to prevent any waste of thegoods confined by the doors. These strips also serve to secure the doorsand are fastened thereto at their lower ends by turn-buttons 5 oranalogous fastenings applied to the doors and adapted to engage over theedges of the strips 3 when the latter are turned into a verticalposition.

The inner ends of the hinged strips overlap, the overlapping portionsbeing bent, as shown at 6, to conform to the obtuse angle formed betweenthe meeting ends of the doors 2. This bent end 6 is adapted to fold intoa recess 7 in the sill 4 when the strips 3 are folded outward anddownward, thereby permitting said strips to lie close upon the top sideof the sill.

The doors are similarly hinged to the posts or jambs at the sides of thedoor-opening and their meeting ends are constructed to interlock and arepreferably reinforced by metal pieces 8, which terminate in recurvededge portions 9, adapted to interlock when the doors are closed. Themetal pieces 8 comprise spaced portions to embrace opposite sides of thedoors, to which they are secured by bolts or other suitable fastenings.These metal pieces 8 may be formed in any desired way, so long as theirouter edge portions are recurved and their inner parts are adapted to besubstantially connected to the doors. In however, the

parts 8 are constructed of sheet-steel or Other metal folded upon itselfand having the folded portion recurved, as shown at 9, and having thefolded edge portions separated, so as to thereon. slightly from receivebetween them the outer edge portion of the door. The recurved edges 9 ofthe metal pieces 8 constitute hooks, which are adapted to engage andform an interlocking joint between the meeting or free ends of the doorswhen closed. \Vhen closed, the doors incline in opposite directions, theinclination being inward at the interlocked ends, so as to betterwithstand the lateral stress of the load thereagainst. The meeting edgeportions of the doors overlap, and a brace is interposed between theedge of the outer portion of one door and the adjacent part of theotherdoor, so as to prevent the parting of the doors, which is essentialin order to admit of their opening and the disjointing of theinterlocking connection formed by the recurved edge portions 9. Thisbracing connection consists of pivoted arms 10, one being provided nearthe top edge of the doors and another near the lower edge. It is to beunderstood in this connection that the number of connections may bevaried according to the size of the doors and that they may be locatedas may be found most advantageous. This pivoted arm has a bent end,forming a hook 11 to engage with an eye 12, provided upon the oppositedoor to the one carrying the pivoted arm. A shoulder 13 is formed at theinner edge or side of the pivoted arm to engage with the edge of thedoor having the eye 12, and this shoulder is inclined to admit of itspoint embracing the rounded edge portion of the door against which itabuts. A bracket 14 is secured to the door carrying the arm 10, and apin 15 is supported at its ends in the bracket 14 and door and receivesthe arm 10, which is pivoted The arm 10 normally inclines a planepassing horizontally through its pivotal support, whereby the free endis a trifle higher than the when the arm is in position to brace andsecure the doors. This inclination of the arm admits of its settling orgravitating at its free end in order to automatically take'up any playbetween the doors when closed. The

bracing connection is located upon the outer side of the door and haspositive connection with both doors upon opposite sides of theinterlocking joint.

When the doors are closed,their meeting ends interlock byengagement ofthe recurved edge portions 9, and as the doors swing open theinterlocking edges disengage by a sliding movement due to the sliding ofthe overlapped edge portions upon each other as the doors approach astraight line, and when the doors swing outward from the center afteralinement the meeting edges again slide upon each other, and in orderlocking of the parts 9 a guard 16 is provided and attached to one of thedoors, preferably the one carrying the part 10. projects beyond the edgeof the door a suffito prevent the intertion of the opposite door, parts9 to clear each other as the doors swing One guard will be provided nearthe top edge of the door and a second guard near the lower edge, andthese guards consist of short bars secured to the door, substantially asshown.

The hinge connection between a door and the post to which the said dooris connected is continuous, so as to prevent anywaste of grain or othercommodity. The hinge is of such construction as to admit of the doorswinging at an angle of about two hundred and seventy degrees, which isessential to admit of the doors swinging outward at a right angle to theplane of the door-opening and in ward against the side of the car orstructure, these extreme positions beingindicated by the dotted lines inFig. 2. lVhen the doors are swung inward against the sides of the car,they are secured by means of hooks or other fastenings 17. The hingemember attached to the post or jamb comprises wings 18 and 19 and anoifstanding portion 20 in the plane of the wing 18 and extending intothe dooropening and terminating in the knuckles which receive thepintlerod. The wings 18 and 19 are fastened to proximal sides of thepost adjacent the inner corner. The hinge member attached to the doorcomprises spaced parts 21 and 22, between which the door is securedbybolts or analogous fastenings, an offset portion 23 hearing against theinner edge of the door and secured to the latter by lag-screws and anoffstanding part 24: in line with the part 21 and t'erminatinginknuckles matching the knuckles of the hinge member attached to the postand connected thereto by the pintle-rod. The hinge members may be formedin any manner, but are preferably constructed of sheet-steel or othermetal cut to proper size and folded intermediate of its longitudinaledges and bent into the form substantially as specified. The abutting ofthe knuckles of the hinge members prevents any vertical movement of thedoors at their hinge ends, and in order to prevent any Vertical play ofthe doors at their meeting or interlocking ends one of the recurved edgeportions 9 is closed at its ends to confine the recurved edge portion 9interlocking therewith. This is shown most clearly in Fig. 3.

When the doors are closed, they occupy the angular position shown mostclearly in Figs. 1 and 2,with the parts 10 overlapping and extendingacross the joint formed between their meeting ends. The hinge-strips3are turned into a vertical position and are secured by the fastenings5. Outward pressure against the doors is resisted by the parts 10 and 3and by the doors themselves because of their mutual bracing resultingfrom their oppositeinclination. lVhen the strips 3are turned into ahorizontal position and the fastenings 10 are released, thedoorsautomatically swing outward under the pressure of the load, theinterlocking ends being automatically disengaged simultaneously with theoutward move open.

ment of the doors and prevented from again interlocking as the doorsswing outward from a straight line by the guard 16 in the manner setforth.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- 1.Oppositely-inclined doors provided at their meeting ends with aninterlocking joint which is adapted to be broken automatically by theoutward swing of the doors, substantially as set forth.

2. Oppositely-inclined doors having their meeting ends adapted tooverlap and interlock, the interlocking joint automatically parting asthe doors swing open, and a guard for preventing the catching andinterlocking of the ends of the doors as they swing open, substantiallyas set forth.

3. In combination, oppositely inclined doors having their meeting endsadapted to interlock and overlap, and abracing connection arranged inthe angle formed between the doors and adapted to come between the edgeof one door and the adjacent part of the other door to brace the angleagainst lateral pressure, substantially as set forth.

4. In combination, oppositely disposed doors having their meeting endsadapted to overlap and interlock, a brace pivoted to one of the doorsand adapted to engage and-embrace the edge portion of the other door toprevent separation of the doors when closed and secured, substantiallyas set forth.

5. In combination, oppositely inclined doors having their meeting endsconstructed to interlock, and a fastening located in the angle formedbetween the doors and making connection with each upon opposite sides ofthe joint, substantially as set forth.

6. In' combination, oppositely inclined doors adapted to interlock attheir meeting ends, and a fastening located in the angle formed betweenthe doors and making connection with each upon opposite sides of thejoint and having a shoulder to engage with the adjacent edge of one ofthe doors to brace the latter, substantially as set forth.

7. In combination, oppositely inclined doors adapted to interlock attheir meeting ends, a fastening pivoted to the outside of one of thedoors and adapted to engage with the other door to brace and secure thesame when locked, and a guard applied to the inner side of the doorcarrying the fastening to prevent engaging of the interlocking edges ofthe door when swinging open, substantially as set forth.

8. In combination, oppositely inclined doors provided at their meetingends with recurved edge portions adapted to interlock, one of therecurved edge portions having its ends closed to prevent verticalmovement of the matching recurved edge portion, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WALTER ROLLIN BROWNING.

Witnesses:

E. CHASE, A. G. CHASE.

